Lebo gets bid for $74K trophy case

Published Jan 14, 2014 at 9:15 am
(Updated Jan 14, 2014 at 9:15 am)

Mt. Lebanon could get a $74,000 trophy case for its newly-renovated high school athletic building, if the school board accepts a bid from Viking Woodworking at the Jan. 20 meeting. Viking was the only firm to submit a bid, in the amount of $73,828. District project manager Rick Marciniak said responses were limited because the project was bid as design and build and many woodworking firms do not have in-house design teams.

Originally the case was to be included as part of the furnishing, fixture and equipment budget for the district’s high school renovation project.

Board member Dan Remely voiced some skepticism regarding the project. “I’d like to see some photos or designs,” he said. “For $74,000, I would say take pictures of the trophies and frame them. This is a huge amount of money in the current budget environment.”

Superintendent Dr. Timothy Steinhauer explained that ultimately the goal would be to have alumni take on funding the display case through the district’s capital campaign. “In the meantime, we felt it was better to solicit bids,” he said.

Also at the meeting, Tom Berkebile, project manager for PJ Dick, clarified some points regarding the railing in the spectator area of the new swimming pool. Residents had raised concerns that the railing was too low and posed a safety hazard.

“The area has been quarantined off for now to make sure no spectators get too close to the rail,” he explained. “The reason the original profile was so low was for line-of-sight reasons. The architect is looking at several options.”

He added that the existing railing currently meets building code standards at a minimum height of 26 inches.

A boiler in the athletic building will also likely need replaced after a coil malfunctioned during recent subzero weather conditions. Berkebile said the broken boiler was being inspected and that the remaining, functional boiler is able to heat both the swimming pool and athletic building in the meantime.